DELIBERATE poisonings of birds of prey have gone up again - with a sea eagle reintroduced to Scotland among last year's victims.

DELIBERATE poisonings of birds of prey have gone up again - with a sea eagle reintroduced to Scotland among last year's victims.

Experts recorded 22 cases where 28 birds were killed in 2010.

That's one more than in 2009 and almost double that of 2008, when 16 birds of prey fell victim to illegal poisoning.

Poisonings last year killed 13 buzzards, seven red kites, four golden eagles, two peregrine falcons, a sparrowhawk and a sea eagle.

Bird experts said the figure could be higher if bodies in remote areas lay undiscovered.

A new map of "poisoning hotspots" - published by the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime - revealed 132 birds have died since 2006.

Environment minister Roseanna Cunningham said: "It's disappointing to see that there has been no improvement in the number of birds of prey being deliberately and illegally poisoned in Scotland.

"It's especially sad that some of the victims, such as sea eagles, are part of reintroduction programmes and there really has to be a change in attitude amongst those persistently involved in killing raptors."

Of the 22 poisoning incidents last year, 10 happened in the Northern Constabulary area, six were in Tayside, three in Lothian and Borders, two in Dumfries and Galloway and one in the Strathclyde Police area.

Sixteen of the incidents involved carbofuran, which is illegal in the UK and potentially dangerous to humans.

Duncan Orr-Ewing of RSPB Scotland said: "It is very disappointing to see that illegal poisoning continues at unacceptably high levels in our countryside."